LCMC Health, as part of a partnership with Louisiana's Tulane University, has agreed to buy three hospitals from Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare for $150 million.
If the agreement is approved, Tulane Medical Center, Tulane Lakeside Hospital and Lakeview Regional Medical Center will become part of the New Orleans-based system. LCMC said the approximately 1,900 employees at those three facilities will continue to have jobs as well as "expanded opportunities for growth and advancement."
The deal, expected to close later this year or early next year, will encourage academic collaboration with Tulane University and Louisiana State University, plus increase the region's access to specialty care, according to LCMC CEO Greg Feirn. It also moves the three hospitals from for-profit ownership to not-for-profit.
"It allows us to grow our relationship with Tulane and allows Tulane a larger clinical portfolio from which to train its students and residents," Feirn said. "For something this transformative for a community and the state, it’s the right time."
Within the next two years, most services provided at Tulane Medical Center will shift to East Jefferson General Hospital and University Medical Center New Orleans. LCMC has also agreed to invest $220 million over five years in the three hospitals for new equipment and facilities.
The deal complements Tulane’s expansion plans in downtown New Orleans, part of a $600 million commitment to the area. The university is planning to revitalize the Charity Hospital building, which closed after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005. Tulane is taking 350,000 to 400,000 square feet of the old hospital and will operate its school of public health and employ hundreds of researchers there. The school also is repurposing Tulane Medical Center for outpatient clinics, research and a new nursing school, said Michael Fitts, Tulane's president.
